Ranji Trophy final: Jammu and Kashmir skipper Paras Dogra wins toss, opts to bat against Karnataka

Hubballi (Karnataka) [India], February 24 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir captain Paras Dogra won the toss and elected to bat first against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 final at Hubballi's KSCA Stadium on Tuesday.

J&K made two changes to their knockout-winning XI, bringing in Qamran Iqbal and Sahil Lotra for Vanshaj Sharma and Shubham Khajuria, while Karnataka stuck with their semi-final XI.
Playing their first Ranji final, J&K enter the game on the back of successive wins against Bengal in the semi-final and against Madhya Pradesh in the quarter-final. Karnataka, meanwhile, won the semi-final against Uttarakhand on first-innings lead.
The two teams have met four times in the Ranji Trophy previously, and Karnataka have won on each occasion.
"We will bat first. Looks dry and might turn later on. We've kept things simple, and god has been with us, we've played some good cricket. Just stick to the basics - a couple of forced changes for us," Paras Dogra said.
"I don't think it's relevant. I've lost the toss in all three matches; we were looking to bowl as well. Getting to a Ranji final is a huge achievement; a lot of guys have come into the side, and experiencing a final in their first or second season is great. Same team for us," Karnataka skipper Devdutt Padikkal said.
Teams:
Jammu and Kashmir (Playing XI): Qamran Iqbal, Yawer Hassan, Shubham Pundir, Paras Dogra(c), Abdul Samad, Kanhaiya Wadhawan(w), Abid Mushtaq, Auqib Nabi Dar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Sahil Lotra, Sunil Kumar.
Karnataka (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal(c), Karun Nair, Smaran Ravichandran, Shreyas Gopal, Kruthik Krishna(w), Vidyadhar Patil, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Shikhar Shetty, Prasidh Krishna. (ANI)